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The Movie:
Among many great films, director Albert Brooks' "Lost in America", in my opinion, stands out as one of his better efforts as he mixes in (lightly) a couple more serious moments with many incredibly funny lines and situations. Brooks plays David Howard, a well-paid executive who becomes angered when he finds that he's been passed over for a promotion and gets fired. Along with his wife Linda(Julie Hagerty), the two decide to drop out of their everyday lives and hit the road in a motor home to find themselves.
Everything seems to be going perfectly fine as the two head towards Las Vegas to renew their vows before heading further on their way across the country. Things don't go as they planned, though, and their nest egg that they were going to use to start over gets gambled away.
They're suddenly faced with having to have to return to the society they left soon after they so energetically set out to find their freedom.
Brooks is wonderful as usual, getting increasingly angry as Hagerty's character after she lost all of the money at the casino. There's a particularly hilarious sequence as David explains to Linda the meaning of a "nest egg" in no uncertain terms. There's a bit of a darker, unhappier edge that runs throughout some scenes in the film that make for some more interesting moments than if all of these situations were played for pure, light laughs.
All-in-all, "Lost in America" isn't Brooks' best feature, but it's certainly up there among some of the better films of his career.
The DVD
VIDEO: Warner Brothers has done a fine job with "Lost In America", considering the film is now about 16 years old. The film is given a fresh, clean presentation with this anamorphic transfer, offering the film in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Sharpness is never quite satisfactory, although some scenes appear more well-defined and detailed than others.
Softness aside, I was pleased with other aspects of the picture quality, or actually, I was happy with things that didn't appear. Print flaws seemed largely absent, and although there were a few little marks and speckles along the way, I was expecting more wear with the film's age.
Colors were fairly respectable, but the film doesn't really offer much in the way of a wide variety of colors, mainly keeping to a rather bland set that looked very slightly faded at times. Overall, I wasn't completely thrilled with the work that Warner Brothers has done for the film, but there are certainly some parts of the presentation that I was happy with such as the lack of wear.
SOUND: "Lost in America" is presented in mono and, really, what can you expect from a 16-year old mono audio presentation. In the case of "Lost in America", not a great deal. The film (like the rest of the director's films) is dialogue-driven, with some slight touches of score now and then.
If there certainly isn't much to the presentation, audio quality at least came across well considering the film's age. The score seemed a tiny bit thin at times, but clear and dialogue came through naturally, as well. Although not quite as smooth sounding as most recent films, the dialogue certainly never sounded thin or harsh.
MENUS:: The film's menus at least have a little fun using "road-themed" images like signs for the options, if there's still no animation involved (but the score is in the background).
EXTRAS: Trailer, short awards list and cast/crew filmographies.
Final Thoughts: "Lost in America" is a funny and well-acted effort from Brooks that has quite a few great moments. Although audio/video quality isn't impressive, it's a little better than I was expecting for the 1985 film. Priced nicely by Warner Brothers, the DVD is certainly worth a look for fans of the movie or fans of the director in general. Some extra features would have been nice, but it's become apparent that Brooks doesn't really want to be involved in the DVD releases for his films.
Film Grade
The Film ***
DVD Grades
Video 83/B = (332/400 possible points)
Audio: 80/B- = (320/400 possible points)
Extras: 70/C- = (210/300 possible points)
Menus: 75/C = (150/200 possible points)
Value: 82/B = (246/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1259/1600
DVD GRADE:C+/78%
FILM GRADE: ***
DVD GRADE: C+
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